Proposition 1 to remove the debt limit on small city school districts passed with 116,177 votes or 58.79%.
Proposition 2, which would exclude indebtedness for sewage facilities, also passed with 127,287 votes equating 64.83%.
Proposition 1, an amendment, seeks to remove the special constitutional debt limitation that currently applies to small city school districts.
Under the state Constitution, these districts are restricted in the amount of debt they can incur, with limitations based on the value of taxable real estate within the district.
Since passed, it will eliminate the specific constitutional debt restriction for small city school districts and instead establish debt limits for all school districts through state law. This change would align small city school districts with other school districts, which are subject to different debt limits set by state law.
Proposition 2, an amendment, deals with the extension of an exception related to sewage project debt from the constitutional debt limits. Currently, the Constitution allows counties, cities, towns, and villages to exclude debt incurred for sewage treatment and disposal construction projects from their debt limits. However, this exception is set to expire on January 1, 2024.
This amendment extends the sewer debt exception for ten more years until January 1, 2034. It involves a change to section 5 of Article 8 of the Constitution, which defines the conditions under which indebtedness for sewage facilities can be excluded from debt limits.
